The invention is directed to a mobile telephone system including a detachable camera/battery module and a mobile telephone.
In the prior art, image data from electronic still cameras has been transmitted via conventional telephone lines to selected receivers through the use of a computer equipped with a modem. The image data must first be downloaded from the electronic still camera to the computer, which then transmits the image data to a second modem-equipped computer via the telephone line where it can be viewed or printed.
Video telephone equipment has also been developed, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,507 to Umezawa. The Umezawa device is a mobile phone that includes a video camera and video display, as well as a microphone and speaker. Because the video camera is permanently integrated into the mobile phone, the device must be sold as a single, relatively expensive device, which is both larger and more fragile than a conventional mobile phone (e.g., cell phone) since, for example, the device includes a lens and image sensor. On some occasions, a mobile phone user would like to carry a very small, rugged mobile phone, and does not need to take photographs. In such situations, the user of the Umezawa device would require a second, voice-only cell phone.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a handheld mobile telephone having a detachable camera/battery module, so that a conventional battery-only module can be used with the mobile phone to provide a small, rugged voice-only cell phone, and the camera/battery module can be used for those occasions when the user expects to take photographs.
This object is achieved by a handheld mobile telephone system including a detachable camera/battery module for capturing images and a mobile telephone for communicating with a receiving unit, comprising:
(a) the detachable camera/battery module including:
(i) a lens for focusing light from a scene to produce an image;
(ii) an image sensor for capturing one or more images;
(iii) a converter for producing digital image signals from the at least one captured image;
(iv) a battery for supplying power to the mobile telephone system; and
(v) a first connector for detachably supplying the digital image signals and the power to the mobile telephone;
(b) the mobile telephone including:
(i) a memory for storing the digital image signals;
(ii) a processor for processing the stored digital image signals;
(iii) a display for displaying the processed digital image signals;
(iv) a second connector for interfacing with the first connector on the camera/battery module to receive the digital image signals and the power; and
(v) a radio frequency transmitter for transmitting the processed digital image signals to the receiving unit; and
(c) whereby, when the camera/battery module is connected to the mobile telephone, images are captured by the camera/battery module and are transmitted to the receiving unit using the mobile telephone.